You are here

Attorney selection questioned by board, candidate

A Williamson County commissioner is rethinking his acceptance of the Spring Hill city attorney position after city officials raised questions of a possible conflict of interest.

Mayor Rick Graham said the city is currently working on the details of hiring Travis Hawkins of Franklin-based Hawkins Law Firm, which was selected as Spring Hill’s new legal representation on July 15. But he wants to resolve any issues before the Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s next meeting Aug. 12.

Mainly, he said, he hopes Hawkins will resign from his county position before accepting the job in Spring Hill.

“He can’t do both. He has got to resign, or he won’t be our attorney,” Graham said Tuesday.

Phone calls to Hawkins and his law firm were not returned Tuesday.

Concerns for some aldermen on the board, however, do not stop at Hawkins’ commissioner seat.

Alderman Eliot Mitchell said Tuesday that he is wary of the facts that Hawkins worked at the same law firm as State Rep. Jeremy Durham until April — shortly before applying for the city attorney position — and that Durham contributed $1,400 to Graham’s mayoral campaign. He also mentioned Hawkins’ firm has decades less experience than the city’s previous counsel, Tim Underwood of Henry, Henry and Underwood.

On its website, Hawkins Law Firm lists specialties in litigation, criminal defense, personal injury, probate, wrongful death, family law and municipal law.

“If you look at the conflicts of interest, look at the experience, there’s only one logical reason why this particular law firm was selected, and it was basically their political connections and cronyism,” Mitchell said.

The board began discussions of the city attorney position in June after receiving applications from five firms, including Henry, Henry and Underwood.

At a June 17 voting meeting, aldermen were asked to nominate three of the five firms to interview at a special-called meeting. Alderman Chad Whittenburg nominated Hawkins before Alderman Jonathan Duda asked why the board should even conduct the interviews if members were satisfied with their current attorney.

The board eventually voted 7-2 to interview all five candidates as a way to remain fair. Mitchell and Alderman Susan Zemek voted against the decision.

Six of the nine board members interviewed the five firms at the special meeting July 10, City Administrator Victor Lay said. Not present were aldermen Keith Hudson, Bruce Hull and Whittenburg, Lay added.

Minutes for the meeting were not recorded because aldermen did not discuss the candidates, they just asked them questions, Lay said.

The next week, on July 15, Whittenburg again nominated Hawkins — this time to serve as the city attorney.

Whittenburg could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The board voted 5-3 in approval of Hawkins filling the position, with Hull, Duda and Mitchell voting for Underwood. Alderman Amy Wurth was not present for the vote.

Mitchell said he was taken aback by the lack of dialogue concerning the city attorney contract and added that the mayor did not ask questions of any applicant during the interviews.

“The five votes were set before the meeting ever occurred,” Mitchell said.

Asked what he thinks of Hawkins being linked to State Rep. Durham, he added, “If I have to hire Jeremy Durham’s ex-law partner to get his support of Spring Hill, then you can see that red flag pretty clearly, I would hope.”

Graham said he voted for Hawkins because the firm is closer to Spring Hill than Pulaski-based Henry, Henry and Underwood, and Hawkins could handle the city’s litigation, instead of having to contract those cases with different firms. Underwood advises the board but does not litigate.

“As a mayor, I’m looking for a clean slate,” he added.

On Tuesday, Lay said Graham asked him to send the aldermen an email Monday morning letting them know Hawkins had removed his name from the running for city attorney. The same afternoon, Graham asked Lay to send another email saying Hawkins would reconsider.

The mayor and city attorney candidate are set to meet Friday to discuss options.

However, Duda said he is surprised Graham is dealing with the conflict now.

“It wasn’t a secret that Mr. Hawkins was a county commissioner before the board voted the way it did,” Duda said Tuesday. “My vote was based on who was most qualified and who could serve the city without any interruption in terms of conflict of interest or other things. I’m surprised at this point the mayor and others are seeking his resignation (from office) when that was clear from the beginning.”

Graham said they did not discuss the issues before Hawkins was selected because they didn’t want to deal with the conflict unless he was chosen.

Possible conflicts of interest should Hawkins continue his role as commissioner include joint decisions made between the city and county and lawsuits that could occur between the government entities.

“There’s no chance of having anything like that occur, because he’s going to serve Spring Hill, or he won’t be the attorney,” Graham said.

Rules for posting comments

Comments posted below are from readers. In no way do they represent the view of Stephens Media LLC or this newspaper. This is a public forum.

Comments may be monitored for inappropriate content but the newspaper is under no obligation to do so. Comment posters are solely responsible under the Communications Decency Act for comments posted on this Web site. Stephens Media LLC is not liable for messages from third parties.

IP and email addresses of persons who post are not treated as confidential records and will be disclosed in response to valid legal process.

Do not post:

Potentially libelous statements or damaging innuendo.

Obscene, explicit, or racist language.

Copyrighted materials of any sort without the express permission of the copyright holder.

Personal attacks, insults or threats.

The use of another person's real name to disguise your identity.

Comments unrelated to the story.

If you believe that a commenter has not followed these guidelines, please click the FLAG icon below the comment.